Commies in Congress?

Posted:
04/13/2012 03:00:24 AM EDT

Friday, April 13, 2012

In just one more example of the GOP rhetoric that has been pushing
its base across the line between reason and rage, a Florida
representative told attendees at a "town hall meeting" that 81
Democrats are members of the Communist Party.

"I believe there is about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party
that are members of the Communist Party," said Rep. Allen West.

A spokeswoman for West said he was referring to the members of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus, which the Communist Party has
called "its allies."

Campaign Manager Tim Edson added fuel to the fire when he said that
"some" Democratic members have traveled to Cuba in recent years and
"certain" members have praised Castro (two, to be exact - Illinois
Rep. Bobby Rush and former California congresswoman Diane Watson,
both members of the Progressive Caucus).

Edson reiterated Melvin's comment: "Call them what you want; they're
clearly people who oppose capitalism and free markets and individual
economic freedom. We can quibble about the terminology used to
describe them, but it's clear. Whatever you call people that oppose
capitalism and free markets and individual economic freedom - maybe
it's 'socialist,' maybe it's 'Communist' ..."

We're pretty sure the members of the CPC, including the founder, Sen.

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Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist who represents Vermont in
Congress, don't oppose capitalism and free markets and individual
economic freedom, but if you put the words "unbridled and
unregulated" in front of those three things, they would probably
agree.

West, a first-term representative, has become famous for his
outrageous and offensive comments.

He called Fellow Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz vile,
despicable, not a lady and a coward.

Earlier this year he said President Obama and liberals should "Take
your message of equality of achievement, take your message of
economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the
entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere
else. You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the
sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the
United States of America."

West has also been derisive of the LGBT community, saying people can
change their sexual orientation "like ice cream flavors."

Taking West's most recent comments at face value, he is calling both
Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch, who is also a member of the CPC,
communists.

"We're not quite sure what planet Mr. West lives on, but McCarthyite
red-baiting won't work in 2012," Sanders told the Reformer on
Wednesday.

In 2010, when Welch was running for Congress, one of his opponents
alleged Welch was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Welch said he had never heard of the organization.

At the time, the director of the DSA laughed about Williams' comments
because in his mind, the members of the CPC were "die-hard
capitalists" and aren't even worthy of the title "socialist."

For the record, the CPC was founded in 1991 by Sanders to reflect
"the diversity and strength of the American people and ... to give
voice to the needs and aspirations of all Americans and to build a
more just and humane society."

But on April 11, The Cypress Times quoted an article in the Canada
Free Press from August 2009 in which JB Williams wrote: "After
decades of failed attempts to take over America via their third party
initiatives that couldn't break America's two party system, leaders
of both the Communist Party USA and Socialist Party USA chose a new
strategy.

"To gain full control of the Democrat Party, DSA leadership
established two congressional legislative bodies, headed by
DSA/CPUSA/SPUSA members. Today, these are the two congressional
bodies in control of congress.

"They are the Congressional Progressive Caucus established by
Socialist Party member Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and the
Congressional Black Caucus established by Communist Party member John
Conyers of Michigan."

(While we are pretty sure Conyers is not a communist, we will admit
he did speak to the Communist Party USA during a meeting in 1965.)

If the last few years are any indication, the socialists and
communists have utterly failed in their attempt to take over Congress.

All one has to do is take a look at the CPC's website and there you
will find its agenda is based on four core principles that "reflect a
fundamental belief in government of the people, by the people, and
for the people."

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